The present invention generally relates to the field of telecommunications and to an apparatus and method for managing telephony-based services. More particularly, the present invention relates to an intelligent or advanced application, such as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) application, for managing the creation of conference calls within a telephone network.
A conventional teleconferencing system requires a conference call originator to manually dial each participant from a Private Branch Exchange (PBX). Each participant is placed on hold until all are connected to the conference originator. The disadvantages of this technique are many, as this method is extremely inconvenient and time-consuming for the call originator. Also, this technique often results in audio quality that becomes increasingly degraded as additional attendees are connected to the call.
An improvement over the above is a conference call service, which is offered by a third party to set up a conference call between multiple parties. Conference call services require an originator to contact a conference call coordinator with the date and time of the call and the telephone numbers (and names) of the participants. At the appropriate time, the conference call coordinator initiates the conference by contacting and connecting the participants. This frees the originator from manually dialing the telephone numbers of the participants, but required another human operator to coordinate the call. Other conference call services allow participants to join a conference call by calling in to an operator and providing an identification number of the call.
In recent years, a number of new telephone service features have been provided by an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). The AIN evolved out of a need to increase the capabilities of the telephone network architecture in order to meet the growing needs of telephone customers or users. The AIN architecture generally comprises two networks, a data messaging network and a trunked communications network. The trunked communications network handles voice and data communications between dispersed network locations, whereas the data messaging network is provided for controlling operations of the trunked communications network.
While prior teleconferencing systems have provided limited teleconferencing capabilities, they have failed to automate the process such that originators can set up a conference call, without the necessity of contacting third party services. Further, conventional systems do not provide adequate security as conventional systems do not authenticate participants as they receive the conference call. Such features would be highly desirable for conference call originators who require security and ease. The present invention is directed to such a solution.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for establishing conference calls within a telephone network. The system includes a service switching point connected to a plurality of telephone stations, a service node having an interactive data system, a conference circuit that includes a plurality of ports to selectively couple telephone stations, and a service control point containing a database. The service node is adapted to receive conference call setup information used to initiate conference calls, and the service node forwards the conference call setup information to the service control point for storage in the database. The service control point contacts each participant to the conference call in accordance with the conference call setup information to couple the participants to the conference call.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of establishing a conference call in an advanced intelligent network comprising a service switching point connected to a plurality of telephone stations, a service node having an interactive data system, a conference circuit that includes a plurality of ports to selectively couple telephone stations, and a service control point containing a database. The method includes receiving, at the storage node, conference call setup information used to initiate conference calls, forwarding the conference call setup information to the service control point for storage in the database, and contacting each participant to the conference call in accordance with the conference call setup information to couple the participants to the conference call.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of establishing a conference call in a telephone network without operator intervention, comprising receiving information regarding a time and date of the conference call, a number of participants, and one or more telephone numbers for each participant; forwarding the received information to a service control point for storage in a database; reserving ports within a conference circuit to couple the participants to the conference call at the time and date of the conference call; and contacting each participant and coupling the participants to the conference circuit.
The above-listed features of the present invention will be more fully set forth hereinafter.